The end of ‘End of the Range’ in Irvine

“End of the Range: Charlotte Skinner in the Eastern Sierra” is coming to an end on Jan. 18 at UC Irvine Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art. Art lovers have only a couple weeks left to enjoy the exhibition that highlights the work of the influential landscape painter.

Organized by the Nevada Museum of Art, the show contains 31 paintings, plus drawings and photographs that span Skinner‘s lifelong career. Additionally, 24 works from the artist’s close circle of friends and 13 related paintings from Langson IMCA’s collection are included.

“Charlotte Skinner was a remarkable individual, and it has been a privilege to shed light on her creative practice and share her artistry with a broad audience,” exhibition curator Kolin L. Perry, said in a statement.

Ahead of the closing, Langson IMCA, temporarily located at 18881 Von Karman Ave., Suite 100, will host a Gallery Talk with UC Irvine earth system science professor Julie Ferguson and anthropology professor Valerie A. Olson on Jan. 11.

Charlotte Butler Skinner (1879𑁒1963) was known for her oil paintings of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and surrounding desert country like Owens Valley, Lone Pine Peak and Mount Whitney, which captured the splendor of the landscape before it was drastically altered by the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Her detailed impressions of the jagged peaks and rugged terrain of natural rock formations can be viewed for their beauty but also as preserved moments in history.

The expansive “Pasture Lands, Owens Valley” depicts a sprawling valley with mountains as purple as those one might picture when listening to the lyrics of “America, the Beautiful.” The lush greenery of “Rampant Owen’s River, 1938” feels serene and tranquil, making it easy to imagine what it must have felt like on the riverbank the afternoon Skinner painted it.

The reverence she had for her majestic surroundings is evident in the vibrant works. Her passion also made itself known when Skinner ran for public office, hoping to combat the diversion of water from Owens Lake to L.A. When her efforts failed, Skinner and her husband moved to Eugene, Oreg., in 1933, while extended family remained on their 10-acre homestead in California.

“Rampant Owen’s River,” Charlotte Butler Skinner, 1938, oil on canvas, 26 inches by 30 inches.

(Courtesy of the Langson Institute and Museum of California Art)

Skinner would later resettle on the central California coast, immersing herself in printmaking, teaching children’s art classes and collecting Native American baskets, two of which are featured in the Irvine exhibition. Landscape painting however, remained her focus the rest of her days.

Changes the Owens Valley and Eastern Sierra have undergone since Skinner captured the area on canvas will be the focus of the Gallery Talk with Ferguson and Olson.

Ferguson has a research background in reconstructing past changes in climate through the chemical composition of shells and deep-sea sediments. As an environmental anthropologist, Olson’s research focuses on largely unpopulated environments, like ocean subsurfaces, and how those remote areas become sites for new ecological technologies and politics. The two educators will use their combined expertise to discuss the geological and social histories of the Sierra Nevada and Owens Valley desert, giving the audience a renewed vision of Skinner’s works.

The Gallery Talk is free and open to the public, with no advanced registration necessary, taking place on Jan. 11 at 11 a.m.